Ladies’ Man, 5.10+, 2 Pitches

Overview/Approach

MP.Com has Ladies Man rated at 5.10+ and I concur.  However, on lead I broke a foot hold at the crux which required a reach dependent move on the 2nd pitch, that my 2nd said made a better hold for him as a result.  In any regard, the climbing through the water streak of the 2nd pitch offers sustained climbing in the 5.10 range.  Ladies Man and Sole Man, 5.9, are the two best routes on the south face of Exit Dome.  The first pitch follows bolts up easy ground to a sustained short face, 5.10-, made up of edges and side pulls.  You end up at comfortable long narrow ledge below a brownish water streak where the features have obviously been polished a bit.  The first move off the deck to reach the first clip of the 2nd pitch gets your attention at the grade.  The crux of the route is a few meters higher where I broke a foot hold.  The rock quality in the water streak is a bit suspect despite its dark color.  Sustained edging and side pulling leads through bolts to a fun joint finish with Iron Man on lighter colored rock featuring large features to pull on. One bolt, a small and medium gear piece and one solid horn slung protect this finish well.  The climbing on this section is well below grade, but fun and steep.  Fixed rap hangers are at the top of the wall.  All of the routes on this wall are multi pitch as of 2023.  Both MP.com and the local guide, as of 2023, reference you need double ropes to rap these routes.  However, a competent team can get down all of these routes more efficiently with a 70m rope which would assist with combining upper pitches on the three pitch routes.

There are conflicting opinions on the best approach option to Exit Dome routes in the guide and on MP.com.  The best way to approach all of the Exit Dome routes is simply to head into the canyon as you would for Entrance Dome, which means you will be leaving the wash early to start following cairns up and right as though you were heading for the SE facing Entrance Dome routes, i.e., Full Circle.  Approximately 100’ before you reach Full Circle (the base of Entrance Dome’s SE face) traverse left at the top of a gully and follow intermittent cairns (2023) west as you circumvent Entrance Dome.  The trick is not to be sucked to high as you traverse through brush, but also not to lose any elevation.  Eventually several small fins of rock start to protrude.  Gain the top of these slick rock opportunities to avoid brush and make it to a cave like atmosphere created by a very large fin of rock laying at the center of the south face of Exit Dome.  Iron Man, Ladies Man and Sole Man all start here.  There is one bolt line to the east that is Maintenance Man, which is not a worthy route.  Iron Man and Ladies Man share the same fixed rap stations. When climbing Sole Man, which is a three-pitch route, you can rap west into a gully formed by the massive fin below and climb Grain Surgery, JenEric Stain, Trigger Happy and Cave Man which all share the same top rap station with Sole Man.  When finished, you can rap back to the start of Ladies Man, Sole Man and Iron Man where it is best to leave your packs.   

Route Description

1st Pitch- 105’-5.10a/ Shares the first four bolts (not two as referenced in the local guide) with Iron Man. Then climb straight up the bolted short face above, with thoughtful edge climbing.  Well and fully bolted to a fixed anchor on a comfortable and obvious ledge.

2nd Pitch- 125’-5.10c/ The unprotected move off of the ledge (to the right) is 5.10-, but you do reach a good foot hold when clipping the first bolt. Sustained climbing through 11 bolts (not 6 as per the local guide) gets you through the water streak.  The crux is in the middle of the streak.  Side pulls galore, but the rock is a bit water polished of course.  Good solid climbing.  You then merge with Iron Man and can make two gear placements along with another bolt and one slung horn, all on easier ground, to the shared rap stance above.

Descent

A 70m handled by a competent climber will get you down in two raps.  Double 60m ropes will not get you down to the ground from the top anchor, but will get you close enough to put a draw on a bolt of the next route you are climbing and just rap from there for the competent and efficient pair.

Essential Gear

70m rope.  12 draws.  A few slings.  A few cams, small to medium.  Route gets full sun.  Hiking poles for the approach are recommended.